Friday, January 25, 2013

1 John 2

I've really got to get better at blogging more often. I'm so sorry for my lack of commitment.It's my first week back in Cape Town after a really great visit with family and friends in America. I've had a few days to relax, enjoy the sun, and get myself settled. I've spent a lot of time doing absolutely nothing, a lot of time on the beach, and reading from what seems like a never ending pile of books that I got for Christmas :).Anyways, God has really opened my heart to two specific things this week that have utterly rocked my perspective. I am currently reading I am not but I know I AM by Louie Giglio and all I can say is WOW! Our story is so small and ineffective on our own, but thankfully we have a BIG and mighty God who chooses to involve Himself in our lives. In one of the chapters, Louie goes on to explain the various distances and facts about outer space. Please read the next few sentences slowly to so that you can understand the full effect! For example, did you know that it is a 93-million-mile journey to the Sun? 93 million miles! So if you wanted to go to the Sun (which isn't a good idea) it would take you about "five years flying nonstop, twenty-four hours a day, in our fastest jet, travelling at a constant speed of 2,298.6 miles per hour". Do you know how long it takes for light to travel from the Sun? 8 minutes. Yeah...let that sink in. You ready for some more? Okay, so this light travelling from the Sun to the earth is just a small fraction of the distance of a light-year (how far light travels in 356 days). One light-year is equal to 5.88 trillion miles or 5,880,000,000,000 miles. Thats a pretty big number to comprehend! Now, looking at the Milky Way (the galaxy we call home), you'd be surprised to know that it is between 100,000 and 120,000 light-years across. So basically, it would take you about 100,000 plus years to travel across our galaxy alone! To put it simply, we are REALLY REALLY small in comparison to God. So that's what I've been reading, and yes, it made me feel very small. It made me think about how short my life is in the eyes of God and eternity. It got me thinking about how insignificant I am in the grand scheme of things. Thankfully I know that I am nothing. I am not God. I am not the centre of everything. I am not in control of my life. BUT I know the one and only I AM. I know God who is, plain and simply, the I AM and the BE of life! He is all encompassing! He is everything. I had read that in the afternoon, and when I was in bed that evening I was reading the first two chapters in 1 John. It was almost like God connected the dots. My heart was enlightened in the afternoon with knowledge, and God provided the practical application in the evening:The man who says, “I know Him,” but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.But if anyone obeys His word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him:Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.....Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:4-6, 15-17

Our lives are not insignificant if we obey God's Word. Our love for Him is made complete by obedience! Obviously we are fallen and sinful, but the Holy Spirit walks with us and enables us to walk the way that Jesus did! We must align our tiny lives to God's BIG and glorious story and can strive to walk the way Jesus walked! Our momentary pleasures from earthly things are just that - momentary. Living out God's will is fulfilling and everlasting, binding the hearts of all the I am nots to the great I AM and completing God's love!